EU environment ministers reach 'partial agreement' on climate law: lawmaker

EU environment ministers have reached a "partial agreement" on a proposed EU climate law, German lawmaker Peter Liese said in a statement Oct. 23.

Environment ministers were meeting Oct. 23 to discuss the EU's emissions reduction target for 2030, following a September proposal by the European Commission to raise the goal to 55% below 1990 levels, compared with the existing 40% target.

The ministers reached partial agreement on the law, which needs the backing of the full EU Council and EU Parliament before becoming law.

"It is very important that our climate targets are based on legislation in the future and not only decided by the Council alone," said Liese, who is the environment spokesman for the largest group in the EU Parliament, the center-right European People's Party.

"While I still think that the parliament's position of a 60% climate target for 2030 is over-ambitious and endangers jobs, it is important to have this climate law," he said.

"I am very optimistic that the Council will agree on the Commission proposal of net 55% or something close to this figure," Liese said.

Environment ministers agreed on some measures, such as making the climate target fixed in law, although they did not agree on a figure for the EU's 2030 emissions goal, nor whether every EU member state should individually achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 or whether the goal could be achieved by the EU as a whole, allowing flexibility at member-state level.

The aim of the discussion Oct. 23 was to make as much progress as possible on the 2030 climate legislation, pending a decision by the European Council, which is expected to discuss the issue at a meeting Dec. 10-11.